Although Jan Vertonghen is expected to be fit for the start of the season at Tottenham Hotspur, concerns over the fitness of the Belgian, and also Younes Kaboul, who missed almost all of last season through injury, have reportedly led Andre Villas-Boas to consider bringing in another young defender to add depth to his squad.

Sporting Lisbon’s Tiiago Ilori and Steaua Bucharest’s Vlad Chiriches are the two names being linked with Spurs, although they could have to fight off other clubs for either player.

Liverpool have been chasing Ilori throughout the summer whilst AC Milan and Roma have both been linked with Chiriches. Chelsea are also apparently considering the Steaua player, who they faced in last summer’s successful Europa League campaign.

With Ilori 20 and Chiriches 23, both would fit the bill as a young, talented defender able to add some depth to Spurs’ squad, and each cold develop into a first team player at White Hart Lane over the next few years.

Ilori is valued at around £8million, and has caught the eye of plenty of clubs due to his performances at the Under-20 World Cup this summer. His preference is reportedly a move to the Premier League, although the 20-year-old is keen to ensure he is playing first team football, something Spurs might not be able to offer him immediately.

Chiriches has already been capped 18 times by Romania, and Steaua are apparently asking for almost £13million for the defender. The player has indicated he would like to move to a top club this summer, and mentioned Roma as one side he would be interested in joining but his high price-tag might prove prohibitive.

Spurs are not in desperate of a new centre-back, with Steven Caulker and Michael Dawson also on the books at White Hart Lane. But their injury problems last season demonstrated the value of having five senior centre backs, and if there is are concerns over Kaboul in particular then they should consider bringing in extra cover.

Nick Harris

I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.